Don't You Think I Ought to Know - Ella Fitzgerald, Johnson, William [1

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I Want to Learn About Love - Ella Fitzgerald, Lee, Lester

That Old Feeling - Ella Fitzgerald, Brown, Lew

My Baby Likes to Be-Bop - Ella Fitzgerald, Bishop, Walter

No Sense - Ella Fitzgerald, Brown, Ray [1]

How High the Moon [1st Take][#] - Ella Fitzgerald, Hamilton, Nancy

How High the Moon [3rd Take][#] - Ella Fitzgerald, Hamilton, Nancy

This two-CD set provides a window on the varied pop and jazz styles that flourished in the period, as well as an excellent portrait of Ella Fitzgerald between 1941 and 1946. The material ranges far afield, mixing ballads a... more &raquond period novelties like "Stone Cold Dead in the Market," with appearances by the Ink Spots and Louis Jordan. It's on the uptempo jazz tunes, however, that Fitzgerald reveals a new dimension of her talent, scat singing with the fluency and creativity of a first-rate instrumentalist. Her early grasp of bop is apparent in "Flying Home" and "My Baby Sleeps Like Bebop." --Stuart Broomer&laquo less

Synopsis

Amazon.com essential recording

This two-CD set provides a window on the varied pop and jazz styles that flourished in the period, as well as an excellent portrait of Ella Fitzgerald between 1941 and 1946. The material ranges far afield, mixing ballads and period novelties like "Stone Cold Dead in the Market," with appearances by the Ink Spots and Louis Jordan. It's on the uptempo jazz tunes, however, that Fitzgerald reveals a new dimension of her talent, scat singing with the fluency and creativity of a first-rate instrumentalist. Her early grasp of bop is apparent in "Flying Home" and "My Baby Sleeps Like Bebop." --Stuart Broomer

CD Reviews

A mixed bag

Sasha | at sea...sailing somewhere | 01/21/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Its interesting to notice how long it took for Ella Fitzgerald to grow up as artist.In her Chick Webb days her voice was just a chubby little charming sound and during 40-ies she was still singing too many novelty tunes: judging from this material one would NEVER in million years guess what a giant of jazz music she would became in the next decade.I am sure it was not only big bad company excecutive who make her sing such a silly songs as "Stone Cold Dead In the Market" (!), Ella herself obviously had some weaknes for novelties as well and it would need a strong personality of Norman Granz to point her in the right direction 10 years later, with his Songbook series.To enjoy this double CD one has to program the listening track, choosing best songs instead playing everything simply because her talent was wasted on too many ditties of the day.Presence of such guests as Ink Spots,The Delta Rhytm Boys and Louis Jordan was a good marketing trick, but most of this songs have did not age gracefully as Ella's later work for Verve.For lovers of 40-ies music this double CD is obligatory and I was curious to hear Fitzgerald's growth as a singer from 30-ies Band vocalist to 50-ies Songbook legend, but too much of this music is forgettable!"